No Place I Would Rather Be
by S. T. Nickolian
Summary: Due to a fight with Sasuke, Naruto is in a coma. Akatsuki comes to Sakura saying that they are the only ones able to heal him, so she goes with them. How will Sasuke take this betrayal? And why is it that she can make all the heartless guys care about her
1. Chapter 1

No Place I Would Rather Be

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"You had another run-in with Sasuke, didn't you?" The pink-haired kunoichi sighed when her patient simply turned his head away indifferently. "You really should tell him why, some day he might actually kill you."

"It is making him stronger," was the reply, but she could tell that he was just as unhappy about who his younger brother had taken as a teacher as she was; Orochimaru wasn't a favorite person to either of them. "He would not be able to kill me anyway."

Sakura paused, caught in a flashback to when she had healed Naruto after he fought their former teammate.

* * *

"Naruto-baka! Sit still!" Sakura hit him upside the head before going back to bandaging his arm. Her expression of anger softened as she worked, though. "You should be more careful when you fight him; he's getting stronger, too, you know."

The blonde merely gave her his traditional grin and scratched the back of his head with his uninjured arm. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan! Teme may be good, but he isn't that good! He wouldn't be able to kill me anyway."

Sakura made no verbal comment as she continued to work.

* * *

She poked a particularly bad would and ignored the glare that was sent her way. "If he continues to made wounds like this, he _will_ kill you." She looked down at her hands with a defeated gaze. "I don't want to lose you to him, too…" Her whispered comment made his eyes soften slightly.

Her patient lifted her chin to make her look him in the eyes. "I am stronger than Naruto, and the others are working on finding a way to wake him up while keeping the Kyuubi sealed." He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and whispered in a rare show of emotion and affection. "Things will work out."

Sakura smiled at him and returned to healing him while he turned away again, his usual mask of indifference falling back into place. She was the only one, (to her knowledge,) that had managed to wriggle her way into two Uchihas' hearts, the man before her being the elder of the two. She remembered when Itachi had first come to her, asking of Naruto's condition.

* * *

The kunoichi held the kunai in front of her defensively as she watched the shinobi in front of her. He was wearing his usual impassive façade and she could only see his red eyes and ebony bangs between the signature hat and cloak of the Akatsuki. His partner was no where in sight, but she didn't doubt that the shark was nearby. Naruto was lying on the hospital bed behind her and his steady breathing was the only sound in the room.

Sharingan red burned into emerald green as they stared each other down. Finally, he broke his gaze away to look at the blonde, focusing on the curious red chakre welling around him and enveloping the boy's body.

Sakura tensed even more than before, if that was possible, before relaxing. She had spoken with the Kyuubi a few times before and knew that he wouldn't hurt her, though he had made it quite clear that he would like nothing more than to rip her and everyone else in the whole village apart.

"Kunoichi, who else is in the room?" Itachi blinked at the deep voice that bellowed from the blonde. Slitted red eyes opened as his head turned to him. "Ah… Uchiha Itachi… It has been a long while, has it not?"

The elder Uchiha nodded. "Kyuubi-sama. I was coming to check on Naruto-san's condition since his fight with my idiot little brother."

"Hn." Sakura glanced at Kyuubi, who had his eyes closed in thought. She was very uncomfortable with the large amount of chakre the bijuu was giving off, not to mention the killing intent. "I'll tell you what, Akatsuki," a feral smirk formed across the usually happy-go-lucky face, revealing an elongated fang. "You take Gaki and Kunoichi with you to your headquarters, or at least tell her where it is so she can take him, find a way to fix the idiot brat, and I'll convince him to stay there for a while. I'm not sure if I want you to keep her, medic-nin and all, or not…" His voice faded as he went back to his coma-state.

Sakura was staring at Naruto's body in shock. _Say what?_ She jolted slightly when Itachi shifted, drawing her attention back to him.

He drew out a piece of paper and held it out to her. "This contains the location. If you're still unsure about this, consider that we are the only ones capable of healing Naruto-san."

Without another moment's hesitation, the kunoichi reached out and took the paper from him. _It's for Naruto._ The moment she took the paper, Itachi seemed to just fade away.

She looked at the paper and sighed.

* * *

Sakura jumped from tree to tree with Naruto slung over her shoulder, heading toward Akatsuki. She had made up her mind when she took the paper from Itachi, and she was afraid that she would run into Sasuke on the way. Explaining this to him was the _last_ thing that she wanted to do.

"Kuso." She felt a strong chakre signature following her, one that was familiar from a long time ago. _Figures…_

Not two minutes later, she was forced to stop, seeing as Sasuke was in front of her, face indifferent like always. Sakura scowled and jumped to the ground, setting Naruto down close to a tree and pulling out a kunai to _try _to defend herself until Itachi sent one of the others to come check on her. She may have been trained by Tsunade for a while, but she was under no delusions that she was stronger than Sasuke.

Sasuke appeared in front of her again, and she scolded herself as her hold on the kunai slackened a little. He noticed too, and smirked.

"Still in love with me, Sakura?" He took a step toward her, knowing that she didn't want to fight him. "Where are you going, especially with Dope in that condition?"

Her hand trembled slightly when he took another step, but she managed to keep her voice firm as she said the one word she knew would set him off. "Akatsuki."

That one word stepped her childhood crush in his tracks. His faced showed, for once, shock then fury. "Why are you going there?" His voice was so harsh that she could have sworn it was a snarl. "Why are you going to _him?!_ Damn it, Sakura! You knew I'd come back; why are you going to _him?!"_ He resumed his slow approach toward her, but his steps were more forceful, angry.

Sakura winced before letting out all her despair and anger that she had bottled up since he left Konoha. "What am I supposed to do!?" He stopped again, still angry, but sedated a little at the tears now trailing down her face. "I can't heal Naruto, and neither can Tsunade! I don't know what else to do… Besides," she smirked humorlessly. "It's not everyday that both Uchiha Itachi and the Kyuubi-no-Youko tell you to do something."

Sasuke scowled again. "You still could've waited! I would've figured something out!"

"You weren't there!_ You_ put into the coma in the first place!"

"Oi, Sakura-chan!" The two looked up to see a smiling blonde atop a clay bird above them. "Itachi-san was starting to get worried so he sent me to look for you, un. Everything alright, un?"

Sakura composed herself and took a shaky breathe. "Hai. Everything is fine, Deidara-san." She stared at Sasuke as the bird landed, letting off Deidara and his partner Sasori, two of the… friendlier members of Akatsuki, to her at least. "Just got a bit side-tracked."

Sasori took in the tearstains on her face and narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. "You may take Naruto-san to Headquarters on the bird, Sakura-chan; we'll take care of things here."

The kunoichi nodded, much to Sasuke's irritation. She carefully lifted her friend onto the bird and climbed up beside him. As the bird took off on autopilot from Deidara, she looked back and began to cry again at the look of betrayal in the Uchiha's eyes and heard him snarl slightly under his breathe. "I'm am _not_ going to lose the two of you to _him…_"

_Gomen nazai, Sasuke, but for all he has done, Naruto comes first._

* * *

She finished bandaging Itachi just in time for Deidara to run in. "Sakura-chan! Kyuubi is waking up again, un!" The kunoichi was up and out the door without a word.

Kyuubi waking up had become a regular occurrence in the past few months, but more and more, it would be Naruto talking and only calming down when Sakura was in the room. The first time he woke up, she had been so happy to see him that she hugged him in tears. He had been confused but hugged her back all the same.

Sakura ran into the room, stopping when she saw Kyuubi's slitted red eyes. "Hello Kyuubi-sama; how are you feeling today?"

He merely sniffed the air and narrowed his eyes. "Why do you smell of blood?" If there was something she was good at, it was making even the most heartless of beings to care about her, if only a little bit.

She smiled at the demon lord as she walked over to him and sat on the bed. "I was treating Itachi; he got in a fight with Sasuke again."

"Keh." He turned his head away, but she knew that he had been slightly worried when she had walked in . "Brat says hello." She smiled even more and nodded in response.

"You're waking up more often than before, soon you'll be strong again." She watched as a primal smirk settled over his face and knew that she had said something to please him, which could keep her alive when around him. More docile around her or not, he was still the Kyuubi-no-Youko.

As silence grew between them, Sakura began to sing a lullaby quietly. She had found that Kyuubi would calm down at her voice, so she would sing to him as a way of passing the time.

Kyuubi let out an imperceptible sigh and closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep at the sound of her voice. He could see why the Gaki had been infatuated with her, but he thought she was better as she was now than then.

Sakura continued to sing after Kyuubi fell asleep, knowing that he and Naruto would still be able to hear her for a time. She remembered singing softly to Sasuke when he was injured, then to Naruto, then Itachi, now to the Kyuubi. _What have I gotten into?..._

She knew the real reason that Itachi became a homicidal maniac, and she knew it wasn't the reason that he gave Sasuke. She had felt for Sasuke, now she felt for Itachi, Naruto, Kyuubi and Sasuke, but… she didn't know who she would choose if confronted with that decision, which she hoped that she wasn't. They all meant a lot to her.

Still humming, she stood and walked to the door. "Oyasumi nazai, Naruto-kun, Kyuubi-kun…"

* * *

AN: Yeah, another story. I need to stop doing this, but oh well. There won't be any real pairing to this one, it'll be more of... uh, kind of a harem for her. --' Not really what I had in mind, but that's the way it'll turn out, so if you don't like Sakura with any of them or with more than one guy, I'm going to ask you to leave and not flame me. As far as I'm concerned, if people can make Kyuubi female, then I can make him fall for Sakura.

Thank you all for reading, and if you like, please leave me with a review!


	2. Chapter 2

No Place I Would Rather Be

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"Sakura!" The kunoichi looked up from her desk to listen for Sasori's voice again, frowning slightly at the absence of the usual suffix. "Sakura! We need to get Naruto out of here _now!_"

Leaving he letter she was working on behind, she immediately ran down the hall to the room where Naruto was kept to see that he was standing, however shakily, and gazing at her with eyes that were slitted and red but faded to cerulean at the edges. "Oto is coming," both of their voices were overlapped each other, telling her that they were somehow in sync. "We had better hurry."

Sakura nodded and they ran to the end of the hallway where Sasori and Deidara were waiting. The four of them ran out of the building and jumped on the two clay birds that Deidara had ready. As the clay master made their rides fly into the air, they heard a section of the base exploding.

The kunoichi looked back a little and saw a black and a blue blur racing through the trees below them and sighed in relief. Itachi had Kisame seemed to be alright. She heard a growl coming from her companion and looked up at him. "What is it?"

Naruto-Kyuubi looked back at her a little apologetically. "It looks like we're back in the middle of the war; Konoha is here too." Sakura winced a little. Even if it was almost half a year ago, she still wasn't comfortable with the fact that she had betrayed her village, even if it was for Naruto and they understood.

"Peachy." She started in surprise when Itachi jumped up beside them. She smiled at him and pulled him to sit beside her. "You had me worried for a minute there."

Itachi nodded before narrowing his eyes. "Sasuke is coming."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock and fear; why did he have to be here now? Not a moment later, a bolt of electricity that reminded her of the chidori shot from the ground and smashed into the bird that she, Naruto and Itachi were on. Her emerald eyes widened even further and she screamed as she fell.

Itachi and Naruto-Kyuubi had heard her scream, but could only watch as she fell from their place on Dei's bird. Deidara had swooped down to catch them, but missed Sakura. The kitsune jinchuuriki had reached out to grab her hand, but could reach far enough. Itachi was cursing himself for not holding onto her and they all gave a sigh of relief when a giant slug appeared and caught her.

"'Baa-chan will take care of her; after all, Sakura-chan is her favorite student…" Naruto's voice wavered and he passed out again.

Itachi looked down at the battlefield again before signaling Dei to go ahead. They would have to retrieve Sakura another time; it was too dangerous for Naruto then.

* * *

Sasuke stood in the field gazing at the ruins of the Akatsuki base before walking through the burning gates and over the bodies. The battle was over and there were few if any other shinobi alive at the scene.

Not much was left of the headquarters, and some places were still slightly on fire, but rooms and hallways were still distinguishable. As he made his way through the ruin, he thought back to when he had hit Itachi's bird. He remembered hearing Sakura scream and feeling the wave of panic that had welled up inside of him. When Tsunade had caught her, he felt that he would die of relief. He had watched Naruto pass out and felt anger at him for not catching her; there was anger at the other blonde too, since he seemed to care for her.

He also felt anger at himself for not seeing her on that bird before attacking it in the first place.

He came to a section of the base with minimal damage… well, the walls were still standing anyway. A door was open a little further down, and he walked toward it.

When he went through it, he felt like he had been transported to a forest of some type. Painted on the walls were trees, the most common one being cherry, and he could see little foxes painted here of there. In one corner was small writing, and he went to inspect it closer.

_For Sakura-chan and Naruto,_

_Dei_

A small wave of shock overwhelmed him, but not as much as he thought he would feel. This was Sakura's room. The younger Uchiha looked around, gazing over the bed and finally settling his gaze on a desk. There were pictures there, one of them being all too familiar.

It was of Team 7; finest genin team in Konoha as they had called themselves… before he left. Naruto was grinning like crazy, Kakashi was smiling a little if the crease by his eyes was any indication, he himself was scowling, but he remembered that he had smiled only a little. Sakura was in the middle, between him and Naruto, where she belonged, smiling and sticking her tongue out slightly. Her hair was still long then, before she had cut it to try to protect him.

Sasuke tore his gaze away from the picture, fighting all the memories that it brought back and looked to the picture beside it. It was of her, Deidara and Sasori. All three of them were covered in paint and seemed to be having a play fight. Deidara was holding a brush in front of him like a kunai, trying to look serious, which only made him even comical. Sasori was sitting on the ground between the blonde and Sasuke with a small smirk on his face.

Sakura was laughing as she brandished three brushes in each hand between her fingers. There was green paint that matched her eyes in her hair and a smudge of blue on her cheek. She looked happy, but he could see the twinge of sadness in here eyes, no doubt caused by him somehow.

Looking past all three of the, Sasuke saw Itachi, clean of any and all paint, leaning against the doorway, looking very amused at the whole situation. The younger Uchiha tried to scowl at him, but found that he couldn't, because he probably would have done the same thing if he were in his brother's place.

Around those two pictures were various others, including Ino and Chouji at the barbeque, Temari and Shikamaru cloud-gazing, Tsunade slapping Jiraiya, Kakashi flirting with Anko, (AN: That is a good pairing in my opinion, so don't flame me for it.) and other members of the Rookie 9, all living their lives though there was a tinge of sadness to all of them.

"Sakura-chan used to stare at those while she wrote them letters." Sasuke whirled around, pulling out a kunai as he went. There was a man standing in the doorway. An orange and black mask covered his whole face except for his right eye. Spiky black hair reminded Sasuke of a certain blonde jinchuuriki. Though he couldn't see his face, Sasuke could feel that he had a dumb grin on his face. "I don't mean any trouble, Sasuke-sama."

If anything, Sasuke was put even more on edge. "'Sasuke-sama'? Aren't you in Akatsuki?"

There was a laugh. "I was trying to be, but that was only because I had completely forgotten who I was… and my best friend. I'll never forgive myself for forgetting him, but I don't regret what I did to come to losing my memory; hell, I would do it again if I had to. Thanks to your little raid, I got my memory back… somehow."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the shinobi. "Who is your best friend?"

"Hatake Kakashi."

_That_ hadn't been what he had expected. "Who are you?"

The stranger reached up and took off his mask, revealing ebony hair, a half scarred face, and one Sharingan eye. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Obito… Uchiha Obito."

* * *

Sakura groaned pathetically as she opened her eyes. She recognized the ceiling of the Konoha Hospital and furrowed her brow in confusion. _Nani?_ She looked around the bed and saw a tall woman with blonde pigtails sleeping against the wall. "Shishou?"

Tsunade jolted upright at the sound of her voice. "Sakura!" The Hokage stood up and rushed to her student. Once she was sure that she wouldn't hurt the girl, she hugged her. "I heard you scream and I thought you were a goner!" (AN: I am SO sorry if Tsunade is a bit OOC, but I can't remember what her character is like.)

Sakura hugged her back, struggling against tears. "Shishou, I have to back for Naruto." She felt her teacher tense and hugged her harder. "He's woken up, not Kyuubi, him, but he will still fall back into a coma. Whatever they're doing, it's working."

Tsunade sighed and pulled back to look her student in the eyes. "I know, but do you have any idea how hectic it had been since the battle? Sakura, we have had daily visits from one of the Akatsuki members, checking on you, but they always leave before we can arrest them, and Orochimaru has sent an ultimatum. We either hand you over and we call it a truce or they wipe us out. At least… try to anyway." Sakura smiled at the confident smirk on her teacher's face before it became serious again. "The village is in panic."

Sakura nodded, though she was a little shocked by the last two pieces of information. What would the snake want with her? Tsunade must have seen the confusion on her face, because she smiled. "Somehow, this news got out to the village, and everyone had been overjoyed to hear that you were back. When they heard that two of our enemies want to take you away, they protested, quite loudly might I add, especially Kakashi."

Sakura laughed lightly. "That sounds like Sensei, but he'll understand that I have to go get Naruto; he taught me that those who leave their friends are worse than trash after all."

A sigh as heard from the door. "Yes, I understand, but that doesn't mean that I'm happy about it." The two women turned to see the masked, silver-haired jounin leaning against the door, strangely without his usual porn. "Just take better care of yourself and him, okay?"

Sakura smiled and nodded, a new sheen of tears in her eyes as she looked at her older brother-figure. "I will, but you have to promise me that you'll be here, _alive_, when we come back."

There was a crease beside his eyes, signaling his smile. "Hai."

Sakura smile and turned toward the window. "I guess I had better get ready, ne?"

* * *

AN: There we go. Thank you to all who reviewed and to everyone who read! Please review and tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

No Place I Would Rather Be

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Itachi sat watching the Kyuubi take out his frustration on the wall. When Naruto was even partly awake, the kitsune would be calmer, but now, he was able to take out his anger about losing 'Kunoichi,' despite reassurances that she was fine.

Outwardly, the elder Uchiha seemed his usual indifferent self, but inwardly, he felt like he was staring death in the face. Kyuubi had never been awake this long, but here he was still awake after two days and beating a wall. "Kyuubi-sama, Sakura is in perfect condition, thanks to the Godaime, and she will be retrieved shortly."

Kyuubi turned to him with rage-filled red eyes set in Naruto's face, but Itachi could almost see the chakre form of a fox above him. _"That_ is what you said every day since the battle! And is she here yet?" He spread his arms, gesturing to the nearly obliterated room. "I think _not!_"

Deidara winced as he came into the room just in time to hear the heated comment. "Kyuubi-sama, Itachi-san, Sasori has gone to check on Sakura-chan."

Kyuubi growled and turned back to breaking down the wall. (AN: Poor wall.)

* * *

Sasuke lay in his room at Oto, staring at the ceiling. "Uchiha… Obito…" After that shocking revelation, the two had talked and Obito had revealed that he didn't know where Akatsuki had gone. 

When Sasuke had asked who Obito would follow, him or Itachi, he had just shrugged. "Depends on the situation," he had said.

Sasuke was still trying to grasp that he and Itachi weren't the only Uchiha left, but his mind continued to drift to Naruto. The eldest Uchiha was so much like the blonde jinchuuriki that Sasuke had barely caught himself from calling him 'Dope' like he would Naruto numerous times.

Consequently, whenever he thought about Naruto, his mind would continue to drift to Sakura. He was aware of Orochi-teme's ultimatum to Tsunade but he wasn't happy about it. Sakura was safest in Konoha, not Oto, where fan girls would try to kill her for her connection with him, then they would have a Kyuubi-Naruto hanging over their heads just waiting to kill them all.

Sasuke shook his head, trying to vanquish the thoughts of them from his mind. He couldn't think about them too much; he still had to kill Itachi. He shuddered slightly at the thought of harming them and invoking the full wrath of his brother.

"Sasuke-sama!" An Oto-nin burst through the door, barely missing the kunai that Sasuke had thrown at him. "G-Gomen nazai, Sasuke-sama! Demo, the kunoichi that Orochimaru-sama wanted from Konoha, she's crossing the boarder and Orochimaru-sama wants you to retrieve her."

"Hn." He stood and walked out of the room, never giving the nin a second glance. _What are you doing, Sakura?_

* * *

The youngest Uchiha jumped from tree to tree until he caught a flash of pink and red through the forest. He flashed over and landed in front of her, causing his former teammate to run into him.

Sakura almost fell over from the impact, but she felt arms wrap around her, steadying her. She looked up and her eyes widened in shock as she looked upon her crush's face. "S-Sasuke! What – "

"What are you doing here? You should have stayed in Konoha." He glared down at her a little before pulling her close to him and placing his chin on her head. Sakura stood still for a moment, not sure what was going on before bringing her arms up to hum him loosely. "Where were you going, anyway?"

A slightly bitter smile touched the kunoichi's lips. "I'd tell you, but I don't think you'd like my answer." His hold on her tightened so she was pressed flush against him. She shifted her arms so she would be able to at least try to push away from him, but she knew that is wouldn't work. "Sasuke – "

"I told you that I wouldn't lose you to him, not now, not ever."

Sakura paused at the possessive yet slightly helpless tone in his voice, almost like a lost child. "I know, but I can't leave Naruto; I wouldn't be surprised if Kyuubi had nearly killed everyone there because I'm not there to calm him down."

"Nearly isn't quite the word, Sakura-chan." Sasuke immediately pushed the kunoichi behind him and placed his hand on his sword to face the redhead behind them. "Kakuzu and, after all his raving about being immortal, Hidan are already gone, and I'm guessing that Zetsu and Kisame will be soon to follow."

Sakura's eyes brightened when she saw who was speaking. "Sasori!" She tried to run to him, but Sasuke held her back with a firm grip on her arm. She looked back at him questioningly before her eyes shone with understanding, but also anger. "You can't keep me from hugging my friend, Sasuke! So let _go!"_

She tore her arm from his grasp and managed to dodge as he tried to pull her back to him. Running to the puppet-master, she let him pull her into a brotherly hug and teleport them.

Sasuke cursed. "Sakura…"

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" The kunoichi turned when she and Sasori appeared on Akatsuki grounds to see Deidara running toward them. He scooped her into a hug, grinning all the way. "You're here, _finally_, un!" Sakura laughed and hugged him back.

"Yep! You can't get rid of me that easily." She stuck her tongue out a little as she smiled before looking around. A puzzled look crossed her face and she turned back to her two brother figures. "Where are Naruto and Itachi?"

"Training." They both answered knowing that it wasn't exactly the truth; it was more like Kyuubi was obliterating everything in sight while Itachi watched. "Oh, Kisame is dead, and Zetsu 'disappeared', un."

Deidara blinked then an evil grin spread over his face. Sasori and Sakura looked at him warily and took a step away from him. Taking a deep breathe, the clay-user lifted his head up. "SAKURA-CHAN IS HERE, un!"

BOOM.

A wall on the other side of the hideout blew up. Sakura muttered something about killing Deidara before she was scooped up into a hug by a hyper blonde. She laughed and hugged him back. "It's about time you got here, Kunoichi."

Sakura was surprised that this was Kyuubi, (Naruto's voice wasn't as deep and he never called her Kunoichi,) but she wasn't complaining that he was being nice to her. Instead, she laughed. "You should know what I couldn't stay away for too long." She hugged him harder when she realized that he was going to find out about Sasuke from her scent and lowered her voice. "I ran into Sasuke again."

Kyuubi growled and tightened his grip on her. He looked up at Itachi who was leaning in a doorway. The Uchiha understood the silent command and fazed away.

Kyuubi noticed that Deidara and Sasori had slinked off back into the hideout and nuzzled her hair slightly, knowing she was uncomfortable with the situation. He had heard rumors of Orochimaru's ultimatum and was not even remotely happy with it.

He heard a yawn in his mind and growled. _**It's about time you woke up, Gaki.**_ He felt the irritation of his vessel rise and smirked a little at how easily it was to rile him. He sobered quickly as he looked down at the pink head of hair on his chest. _**Sakura is here, but she had a run in with the wayward Uchiha.**_

_Is that so…_ It wasn't a question and there was hesitation and sorrow laced with the thought.

_**Hai, and Itachi is going to teach him a lesson.**_ He thought this very smugly and he felt a little better when Naruto laughed.

_That's great, but for now, let's take Sakura-chan to her room; she fell asleep._ Kyuubi blinked and looked down at the girl still in his arms, and sure enough, she was fast asleep. _The confrontation must have taken a lot out of her._ Kyuubi nodded grimly and picked her up, heading to the part of the hideout that he hadn't destroyed yet.

* * *

AN: Sorry for not updating in a while. Chapter 3, done. Chapter 4, on the way. XD Thank you everyone who reviewed! The next chapter will mostly be focused on Itachi and Sasuke, so don't be surprised. Please review! 


	4. Chapter 4

No Place I Would Rather Be

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, I wouldn't have to use my brother's computer because mine keeps crashin' on me for no other reason than to drive my insane.

* * *

Itachi watched Sasuke for a moment as his little brother destroyed another tree, cursing harshly. Apparently, he was furious at Sakura but down-right pissed at the rest of them. "You know, if you keep this up, Konoha will know where to find you." 

Sasuke whirled around, an angry scowl on his face, and began forming chidori. Before he could finish, however, Itachi had him pinned to a tree, pressing him against it painfully. "Bastard…"

"When will you learn that Sakura was finally starting to get over you and be happy when you had to try to win her over again?" His whispered question caused the younger Uchiha to growl. "Perhaps I should show you. Tsukiyomi."

They were transported to a world with a blood read sky and a full moon. Sasuke looked around to try to figure out where they were. With a start, he recognized Konoha, before Naruto was put in the coma.

"_Sa-_kura-_chan!"_ he looked over to the voice and saw Naruto with Sakura and Kakashi at Ichiraku's Ramen. His heart clenched at the sight of their smiled without him, even if he wanted them to be happy. "Don't worry! I'll be fine and I'll bring teme back for sure this time!"

The smile on the kunoichi's face faded, replaced with a worried frown. "Naruto, if your life is in danger, then I want you to forget about Sasuke and get out of there… I don't want to lose you too…" Kakashi watched and sighed.

"She's right, Naruto. We don't need you to end up dying just to bring him back." The Copy-nin laid a hand on his shoulder. "Now, let's finish our ramen so we can see you off."

They continued to eat and Sasuke felt Itachi's presence behind him. "This was before his last fight with you; I was given the job of watching over him and his team. Let's speed up to midnight at Sakura's apartment."

Sasuke felt as if the world was truly rushing around him, until the whirling scenes stopped in Sakura's room. The clock shone one minute before midnight and Sakura was asleep. Sasuke faintly remembered having fought Naruto at midnight. He walked over to her and barely held himself back from tracing his hand over her cheek; she looked so peaceful there.

Once the clock changed to twelve, Sakura started having a fitful sleep, crying out for Naruto, tears running down her face as she begged him, Sasuke, to stop.

The younger Uchiha stared at her in shock, just realizing how much pain he had put her through not only then, but over the past years, even when they were genin together.

Itachi watched as well for a minute before sending to them to the next day, when Naruto had been brought back. They watched as Sakura did her best to heal him then broke down when he still didn't wake up.

Sasuke clenched his fists in anger, though there was no one to blame but himself. How could he do this to her?

Itachi sent them to the first time Kyuubi woke up then to when he had come to check on the jinchuuriki.

Sasuke was forced to watch as Naruto, who was not Naruto, threatened and snarled at Sakura, putting her down as he had often done when they were genin. Then how she had gone to Itachi. "You said that she had been happy, it doesn't look like it to me." Sasuke heard the elder Uchiha chuckle and turned to face him.

Itachi smirked. "If you're so anxious to see her happy, let's go ahead a couple months or so."

Sasuke blinked then allowed his face to show his shock; it was the day the picture from Sakura's room was taken. Obito had just taken the picture and Sakura got paint in Deidara's hair. The blond tried to remain serious, but a smile was tugging at his lips. Soon, everyone was laughing, even Itachi chuckled, until Naruto came in. His eyes were a bloody red, showing who was in control.

"Starting a party without me?" Sakura merely smiled at him while everyone else either shifted uncomfortably or remained indifferent. "Whatever. Gaki says hello, everyone." With that, he turned and walked away, but not before allowing his gaze to drift over Sakura once, causing her to blush slightly.

When Sasuke saw the coloring on her cheeks, a jealousy and anger swept through him, causing Itachi to chuckle again. "How does it feel, foolish little brother, to know that she is attracted to more men than just you, now?"

The younger Uchiha glared heatedly at his brother before experiencing pain beyond imagining. "Now that we are finished reminiscing, I will use the next forty-eight hours to beat this lesson into you: Sakura will go where she wishes, and the more you try to control her, the more she'll push you away."

Sasuke screamed as the real torture began.

* * *

Kyuubi watched Sakura sleep, but he knew exactly when Itachi entered the room. "I used the Tsukiyomi on Sasuke to show him that she was happy beforehand, then tortured him, but I doubt he'll listen."

Kyuubi nodded, chuckling darkly. "True; he and Gaki are similar like that: too stubborn to give up." Itachi nodded with a small smile on his face as he watched Sakura with the nine-tails.

After a comfortable silence between them, Kyuubi sighed. "Kuso… whatever curse he used works really well." Itachi looked to him and saw that he was battling unconsciousness again.

"You may rest, Kyuubi-sama; I will look after Sakura." There was a murmured comment of 'you better' before his voice completely faded and Naruto's body fell forward onto the bed. Itachi lifted the blond onto the bed beside Sakura and sat in the chair Kyuubi had been in.

He was surprised to see bright blue eyes open wearily and lift an arm wrap around the kunoichi. "You may as well lie down, Itachi; we don't want Sakura to get cold, and I can't exactly move much."

The Uchiha sighed and checked the door to see that it was locked before taking of his cloak and climbing up onto the bed on the other side of the kunoichi. Naruto's arm was around her shoulders, so Itachi wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Whatever you say, Naruto, as long as Kyuubi-sama isn't too jealous."

Naruto yawned and rolled over a little, closer to him companions. "Nah, he's just as content as we are… All we need is the other baka-Uchiha…"

Itachi paused, looking at the blond over Sakura's head before closing his eyes with a smile on his face. "Aa…"

* * *

AN: See, not so bad, ne? I don't know when the next update will be, what with school and all. _groan_ I don't wanna go back there! Please leave a review to tell me what you think! 


	5. Chapter 5

No Place I Would Rather Be

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, I wouldn't be using my brother's computer because mine keeps crashin' on me for no other reason than to drive me insane.

* * *

Sasuke groaned as he tried to open up his eyes. Itachi's Tsukiyomi had taken a lot out of him and he wanted nothing more than to fall back into the darkness of unconsciousness. "Oh good, you're awake." The younger Uchiha turned his head to look at two familiar faces, though they weren't who he was expecting to see. 

The two both wore their forehead protectors lop-sided, covering one eye and one wore a mask covering half of his face while the other wore a grin that he usually associated with Naruto. "Obito… Kakashi-sensei…"

The Copy-nin blinked in surprise at the suffix then smiled. "Hai. You're in Konoha, Sasuke, unknown to everyone except Godaime-sama, Obito-baka and myself." The scarecrow dodged a half-hearted punch thrown his way from him best friend. "We were supposed to watch over you, because Tsunade-sama has a proposal for you."

Sasuke nodded, a little confused but more curious than anything. Obito gave him another grin then left the room, mostly likely to retrieve the Godaime, leaving the Uchiha with his old sensei. Needless to say, it was a little uncomfortable. "So… How is life with Orochimaru?" Sasuke flinched at the pain and bitterness in his tone, so he just groaned and made and attempt at humor.

"Terrible. Do you have any idea how many fan girls I have over there? There must be double the amount I had here; it's like an army of Ino's." He heard Kakashi trying not to laugh and knew that he had been forgiven.

"Good to see you up, Uchiha." Both Sharingan-users turned their heads to see Tsunade coming through the door with Obito. She gave him a smile and sat down in a chair by the wall. "As I'm sure these two have told you, I have a proposition for you." At his nod, she continued. "We need an insider in Oto, and, quite frankly, we don't have one."

"So you want me to play as the spy?" Seeing all three of them nod, he closed his eyes and sighed. "What's in it for me?"

"Once Oto is destroyed, you will be accepted back into Konoha as a shinobi with no strings attached to the past few years." She saw the indecision on his face and gave a sigh of her own. "Sasuke, quite frankly, if you weren't as close to Naruto and Sakura as you are, I would have ordered you to be arrested immediately and executed, but I didn't. Also, a point that Sakura brought up to me a while back is that Itachi got as strong as he is _in Konoha._" The Slug Sannin paused and let that information sink into him.

A look of shock, realization and regret came across his face and he punched the wall beside him, creating a series of cracks throughout the plaster. "_Kuso!"_ The three elder shinobi watched him sympathetically.

"You know," they turned to Kakashi, who had a thoughtful tint to his visible eye. "Sakura told me something interesting the last time she was here. She said that Itachi had only killed Shisui because the boy was jealous and going to attack someone close to Itachi, namely you." Eyes widened and Sasuke looked away, remembering how Itachi had come home one day and just stared at him, seeming to just make sure that he was really there.

* * *

"Nii-san? Are you alright?" Sasuke stared up at his brother worriedly. He had just stood there and watched him for several minutes. 

Itachi blinked and shook his head as if coming out of a trance. He looked down at him again with a small smile. "Hai. Come on; let's go train a little before Father comes home and gives me another duty to do."

* * *

He had been too happy about Itachi training him that he hadn't taken note of the bitterness in his brother's voice. "Itachi…" There wasn't as much anger and barely any hatred in his voice, causing Kakashi to smile a little. 

"Also…" Sasuke turned to Obito when he paused. Kakashi looked to his friend curiously when he heard the eldest Uchiha sigh. "I think Itachi knew that I had the Sharingan, because he let me stay in the room when he told Sakura-chan about the massacre." The others widened their eyes in shock and Sasuke leaned in a little, eager to learn more.

Obito noticed the attention and chuckled a little nervously. "Well, it seemed that the clan found out about Shisui's real death and, since they couldn't exactly kill Itachi, they were going to punish him." A sigh came from the narrator and he sent a weak smile to Sasuke. "I don't know what you did, but the clan must really not have liked you."

The youngest Uchiha sat back, face blank as he thought about what he just learned. All that time, his brother had been defending him, and, if possible, still was; he had drawn Sasuke away from Orochimaru around the time that the teme was planning to take his body the last time. "Nii-san…"_ I'm still not losing Sakura to you; what fun would that be?_ A small smirk played across his face. _At least, I won't let you keep her all to yourself._

"Alright." The others all jumped at his sudden voice and saw the upturn of his lips. "I'll be the spy and let's hurry up and kill the Hebi-teme; I've got a brother to bring back." There was no malice in his voice at all, and they all smiled.

* * *

"DEIDARA! NARUTO! KYUUBI!" The… remaining… Akatsuki members that had not been called out sighed and rolled their eyes as Sakura yelled. What had those three done now? 

It had been a few months since Sakura made it to the hideout an there were only three Akatsuki members left besides the Leader, and they weren't exactly doing anything at the moment. Naruto was in control of his body half the time and Kyuubi was in control the other half; they no longer went into a coma-state anymore. The rest had been killed by Kyuubi, and it turned out that the fox was quite the master at coming up with pranks to be carried out by Naruto and Dei, mostly on Sakura.

Sakura came raging out of her room, and Itachi and Sasori could see that her clothes were all black and revealed a bit more skin than they should have; 'a bit' meaning 'a lot.' The two looked to each other before turning in opposite directions. Itachi went towards Sakura while Sasori went after Deidara and Naruto.

Sakura was running down the hall, intent on beating the two blondes for what they did to her clothes when she was stopped by an arm around her shoulders and her waist. She squeaked when those arms pulled her back into a chest. "You really should be more careful, Sa-ku-ra…" She froze at the sound of the Uchiha's voice be her ear. "You know… the black brings out your eyes more." She felt his breathe fan her neck and shuddered.

"Itachi – "

"Sakura-chan!" Itachi released her as the two blondes she had been chasing and Sasori came running toward them. Naruto was in control and there was an excited gleam in his blue eyes. "Sakura-chan, Sasuke betrayed Oto and was a spy for Konoha; Oto was burned to the ground!"

Sakura, Itachi and Sasori, who hadn't heard yet, stood still and blinked. Once the information sank in, Sakura squealed and glomped Naruto. The blonde hugged her back, sticking his tongue out at Itachi who narrowed his eyes.

Dei rolled his eyes at the exchange and tilted his head to Sasori. At his nod, the two turned around and began walked away, leaving their 'little sister' to her suitors.

Once Sakura was finished hugging Naruto, she seemed to think about something for a moment before she turned around and glomped Itachi. The Uchiha blinked before wrapping his arms around her, smirking at Naruto who was fuming, partly because he could hear Kyuubi laughing.

_**Calm down, Gaki; it's not a competition… yet.**_ The kitsune chuckled, already thinking of ways to eliminate the Uchiha if need be.

_Kyuubi! Don't tell me I'm going to have to 'compete' with you too!_ He already had to compete with both Uchiha brothers, he didn't need competition from the voice in his head.

_**Don't worry; what's mine is yours and yours is mine, so if either of us get the girl, so does the other.**_ Naruto blinked and gave Kyuubi his 'I'm confused, please explain' look, tilting his head and squinting his eyes. Kyuubi just laughed and faded back into his subconscious, for now, leaving one last comment. _**Of course, you could always share her.**_

Naruto blinked and saw that Sakura was waving her hand in front of his face. "Naruto? What's Kyuubi talking about?"

The jinchuuriki blushed and turned his head away. "Nothing important, Sakura-chan."

Itachi raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, knowing that Naruto would tell him later. They may both like the same girl, but they considered each other as brothers and shared the hope that Sasuke would join them soon.

They were all brought out of their thoughts by Sasori and Deidara coming back, without their Akatsuki cloaks, rings, hats and forehead protectors. Sasori now wore a black outfit similar to Gaara's without the gourd and Deidara was wearing a Stone ANBU uniform. At the questioning looks they received, he merely shrugged. "Akatsuki has now been officially disbanded, but Leader wants to see Itachi about something, un."

The Uchiha turned and walked away while the others began to wonder what they were going to do now.

* * *

AN: Well... what to say about this one? I love Kyuubi. XD To everyone who wanted Sasuke to fight for her, I'm sorry, I thought this would be more... I don't know. It's just the way it came out. Thank you all for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!

Only a few more chapters left!


	6. Chapter 6

No Place I Would Rather Be

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, I wouldn't have to use my brother's computer because mine keeps crashin' on my for no other reason than to drive me insane.

* * *

Itachi opened the door to the Leader's room and saw his figure by the window, looking out at where the others were now sparring until he came back. Itachi joined him in watching them and stayed silent. Finally the elder shinobi sighed. "You'll watch over him, right?" 

Knowing who he was talking about, Itachi turned to him. "I will, but I don't understand why you won't."

The former leader sighed again, deeper this time. "Fear, I suppose. I'll watch him from the shadows and protect him if I can, like I've been doing, but no matter what way you look at it, it's still my fault his life was a living Hell." He turned to the shinobi beside him. "That's why I sent you to check up on him every now and then."

"It's understandable, after all, you _are _his father."

The shadowed figure chuckled wryly. "Not in every sense of the word. I could never go back to that village after what they did to him, at least, not without you and the others to hold me back from killing them." Itachi and turned to leave, mumbling a comment about being able to fix that and shrugging off his cloak along the way. "And Itachi…" The Uchiha took off his ring and forehead protector and turned to see a smile and blue eyes. "Thank you."

He nodded again and left, going to his room to get the ANBU uniform he had worn all those years ago and a couple light cloaks for him and the others should they start traveling.

When he came out to the others, they stopped sparring and just stared at each other. Sakura began shuffling her weight from one foot to the other uncertainly. "So… what now?"

Itachi looked to her and Naruto. "I suppose it is your decision. Do you wish to return to Konoha or travel?"

Naruto immediately turned to Sakura, who bit her lip. "Naruto can send a frog to Konoha, telling them that Akatsuki is no more, and… maybe petition for the three of you to become shinobi there?" It was a question more than a statement and they could hear the undeniable hope there. "We can travel until we get a response."

Naruto looked to the three missing-nin with wide, hopeful eyes. Not so much hope for himself, but hope that they'll do it for Sakura.

Deidara didn't even bother to ask Sasori or Itachi what they thought, he just broke into a huge grin. "Sure, un! Sasori and I would love to become ANBU again, un!" Sasori glared lightly at his partner but nodded at them just the same, smiling a little.

"We cannot leave out little sister all to her lonesome among dangerous shinobi, no can we?" Sakura smiled at them and turned to Itachi.

The Uchiha sighed theatrically but smiled a little. "It seems that I am outnumbered. I will return with you to Konoha.

Sakura jumped for joy and hugged both him and Naruto around their necks. Naruto looked to Itachi over her head and smirks grew on both of their faces and before she could react, Itachi held her while Naruto tickle-tortured her.

She began to laugh immediately and kick at Naruto while trying to pry her arms away from the Uchiha behind her. She called to her 'brothers' to help, but Deidara couldn't stop laughing, even though he wasn't the one being tickled, and Sasori was shaking his head in amusement.

The former leader watched the five shinobi that had been living with him for the past months, reveling in the happiness radiating form them. Itachi's words flowed through his head as he looked down at the blonde boy with blue eyes. His own softened. "Naruto…"

"_You could fix that…"_

"Heh, why not? What have I got to lose now?" Jumping through the window, he let the sunlight flow over him for the first time in years. Landing, he noticed the five of them watching him, so he took a pose that he had seen his old student use; he stuck a hand in his pocket and raised the other in a lazy wave. "Yo."

Deidara, Sakura and Sasori looked from him to Naruto and back while they just stared at each other and Itachi hung back with amusement showing in his Sharingan. Finally, Dei broke the silence. "Are you two related, un?"

The man smiled and nodded, while Naruto's eyes grew wide and he pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're the Yondaime!"

Sakura eyes widened and she looked to Itachi for an explanation. Sighing, he looked down at her fondly. "Minato-sama _is_ the Yondaime Hokage; how he is alive, we still don't know and he _is_ Naruto's father, which is why he sent me to watch over him so many times."

Naruto let his hand fall to his side as he stared at the man who claimed he was his father. Naruto's father, which is why he sent me to watch over him so many times."

Naruto let his hand fall to his side as he stared at the man who claimed he was his father. _He's my father, and he abandoned me…_

_**I don't think he did, Gaki.**_ He blinked at Kyuubi's surprisingly quiet 'voice.' _**Look at his eyes; they're filled with regret.**_

_I wonder why…_ He heard Kyuubi sigh in irritation.

_**Then ask him, Baka.**_

Naruto locked his azure gaze with Minato's, causing his father to blink. "Why didn't you stay? Why didn't you come back for me?"

Minato's smile dropped with a sigh as he ran a hand through his wild blonde hair. "Do you have any idea how much I wanted to? But think about it: do you honestly think that they'd welcome me back with open arms and let you live? I'd have to deal with cries of 'Kill the demon!' and knowing you are my son would probably cause me to kill whoever called you that, and as we both know, that's over three quarters of the village."

_**Told you, Gaki.**_ Kyuubi's 'voice' was filled with respect and Naruto couldn't help but fell a bubbling happiness rising within him.

"Then… what about when I was with Akatsuki all this time?" He saw his father smile wistfully and look up at the sky.

"You don't know how tempting it was to just come see you, but…" An ironic chuckle escaped the former Hokage as he looked back down fondly at his son. "I guess I was afraid. The man who faced the Kyuubi-no-Yoko was afraid of his own son; who would've thought?" A sheepish smirk crossed his face.

Naruto laughed and grinned. "As well you should be! 'Cause I'm going to be a better Hokage than you one day! Believe it!" He kept up his kitsune-grin, and, after a few seconds, his father matched it.

"I wouldn't doubt it for a second." The rest of the group smiled at the father and son before Minato spoke again. "So… I believe we're going to travel?"

* * *

"Tsunade!" The Godaime jumped at her ex-teammate's voice and looked up to see him running through her office door followed by a small orange frog with black markings that she recognized as Gamabunta's son and a good friend of Naruto's. "You're not going to believe this." 

She looked at him questioningly, but he merely gave her a scroll with a huge grin on his face. Looking at him suspiciously, she opened the scroll to read. The farther she read, the wider her eyes became, making Jiraiya's grin even bigger. "Shizune! Get me anyone who cares about Naruto! NOW!"

Jiraiya laughed, but as he took the scroll and reread it, tears filled his eyes. "Who would have imagined that he was alive."

In less than ten minutes, the members of the Rookie 9, Team Gai and their teachers, and the Suna Siblings who were visiting were present and staring curiously at the wide grins of the Sannin. "We have just received a message from Sakura and Naruto, with some interesting news."

Seeing that they had everyone's attention, Jiraiya took over. "Akatsuki has been disbanded, and only Uchiha Itachi, Akasuna-no-Sasori, Deidara, and the Leader are alive, all of whom have become good friends of Naruto and Sakura." This caused everyone who didn't know to gape in surprise.

Then Jiraiya motioned Kakashi and Obito to come over to him. The two jounin looked to each other then to him suspiciously before walking over anyway.

The Sannin put his arms around their necks and grinned a lot like Naruto would have. "He's alive; that idiot, blonde, blockhead of an apprentice of mine is alive and traveling with Naruto." Everyone thought he was talking about Naruto until he said the last word.

The two jounin allowed their eyes to widen and stare at him, as if asking him something. Jiraiya's grin only got wider as he nodded. "He's Naruto's father, too." Obito broke out of his shock and began cry-laughing with happiness, Kakashi close behind.

Even Lee and Gai were silent and gazing at them with a look that clearly said, 'What the hell?' Tsunade smiled and turned to face the rest of them. "What Jiraiya means is that Naruto's father, who is _supposed _to be dead, is actually alive. He was very close to those two because he was their sensei, the Yondaime Hokage."

Complete silence filled the room until Shikamaru sighed and muttered, "Troublesome…"

This caused everyone to burst into conversation. Sasuke hung back in silent contentment for his self-proclaimed brother. Would they come back now? Or would he have to go get them like Naruto wanted to do with him? "Sasuke." He turned and saw Tsunade waving him over through the crowd. "Sakura wants to know if the four of them can become Konoha shinobi. Will you be alright with Itachi returning?"

Sasuke smiled slightly and nodded. "Alright, then you get to go get them." She chuckled at the surprised expression on his face before turning back to everyone else. "Alright! Listen up!" Once she had everyone's attention, she folded her hands in front of her. "I know that you're all happy about all of them coming home, but you must keep this to yourselves, which means you can't tell _anyone_ especially the council." They all agreed and were dismissed, but the Godaime held the youngest Uchiha back.

"You're find them then travel with them, taking care of any surviving Sound nin. I know, I know, there aren't any." Sasuke closed his mouth from being about to say something and just stared at her blankly. Tsunade smirked and leaned back in her chair. "This will just be a way for all of you to spend time together."

Sasuke blinked then smiled. "Hai, I understand. My mission is to locate the group of jounin/ANBU level Konoha shinobi and patrol the five nations to insure that no more enemy nin have survived." Tsunade laughed at his wording but nodded. She brought out a box of new forehead protectors and handed it to him with a smile.

Sasuke took four and left the office with a smirk on his face.

Tsunade and Jiraiya watched him go with smiles on their faces. They were going to get their students back and four of the strong shinobi known. It was good day.

* * *

AN: I wrote this a long time ago, and shortly before that I had been told that the leader of Akatsuki was the Yondaime, so I wrote it that way; I know that the leader is actually some guy named Pein, and I'm sorry if you guys are mad at me for writing it this way, but that's the way it worked out. Again, gomen.

I was originally going to call the Yondaime 'Arashi' and that's the way I typed it up but I just changed it to Minato, so if I forgot to change it once or twice, please inform me to I can change it. Thank you all for reading, and please let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

No Place I Would Rather Be

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Sakura was lying against a tree between Sasori and Deidara, watching the stars while the two of them argued about art. She had spoken up once, saying that she liked Sai's art, but they had only paused for a moment before talking about the flaws of Sai's work. At that point, she had tuned them out and focused on the sky. 

Minato, Naruto and Itachi were sitting around a fire a few feet away, talking about jutsu no doubt. She smiled at them, causing Naruto to wave. In the short time they had been traveling together, Arashi had come to be a type of father-figure for all of them, taking care of them if they ever needed it. She could only hope that he accepted Sasuke just as easily if they ever went back to Konoha.

Kyuubi was coming out less, but whenever he did, he would always come close to Sakura, either to sit beside her or lay his head on her lap. Oftentimes, when that happened, Itachi would come over too and sit on the other side of her.

The sleeping arrangement for the three of them was close as well. Itachi would be sitting against a tree with Sakura either lying beside him or with her head in his lap while Naruto or Kyuubi would have his head on hers with an arm around her waist. The others would sleep at other corners of the camp while one would keep watch.

Now, as she yawned, Itachi stood and walked over. Sasori and Dei took that as their cue to go talk to Minato about whose art was better and she almost smiled at him in sympathy - those two were very passionate about that. Sakura smiled at the Uchiha as he sat beside her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, feeling Naruto coming up on her other side.

She fell asleep shortly after, leaving the two boys to watch her fondly. Naruto yawned and flinched slightly, causing Itachi to watch him with silent anticipation until he opened his now red eyes. Kyuubi nodded to him and looked down at Sakura. "Hmm… You have gained my trust, so Gaki and I are willing to share her with you, but what about Sasuke?"

"What about me?" The group looked up to see a smirking Sasuke on a tree branch, causing them to be a put a little on edge while secretly rejoicing at the unmarred Leaf symbol on his forehead protector.

He jumped into the clearing and pulled four more forehead protectors and began talking in a serious voice. "Since the burning of Oto, there have been fears of survivors of the fire. Yondaime-sama is to be leader of a patrol team to insure that there are no such a survivors. Orders of Godaime-sama."

A smirk crossed his face once more as his eyes landed on the slumbering Sakura. "But I think we can wait until Sakura wakes up." A few chuckles were heard as the youngest Uchiha threw the forehead protectors to the former missing-nin. When he came up to Itachi, a small smile came to his lips as he gazed at the brother he just realized he had always looked up to, even when he hated him. Itachi gave him a smile in return.

"Sasuke." He looked to Naruto, whose eyes were bright blue again. The blonde seemed to be searching his ebony eyes until he found what he was looking for and smiled. "Welcome back."

Sasuke smiled back and settled down in front of them. Minato soon came over and placed a hand on the youngest Uchiha's head, causing him to blink and look up at the Yondaime only to see the cheeky that Naruto was famous for. "Welcome to the family." The Yondaime sat beside him and Sasori and Deidara followed him soon after.

All of their talking woke up the single kunoichi in the group. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was the smirking face of her childhood crush, causing her to jerk upright. "Sasuke-kun!"

Everyone jumped slightly at her voice but Sasuke's smirk faded into a gentle smile as he turned to her. The kunoichi studied him for a moment before launching herself into his arms, knocking them both to the ground by the fire.

They laughed as they fell. Sakura had tears of happiness running down her face, which Sakura gently wiped away with the pad of his thumb, still smiling.

Kyuubi took control once again, watching as she hugged her crush. "So… are we all going to share her, or… what?"

The Mangekyou-user glanced at the kitsune before continuing to smile at the kunoichi and his brother. "We'll let her decide, and I suggest that we all honor whatever decision she makes."

"Hmph." The nine-tails allowed his face to soften and he sighed. "Yeah, whatever. We can at least enjoy the attention she bestows upon us now." Itachi nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence, commenting on the conversation going on among the others.

That night, Sakura fell asleep with an Uchiha on both sides of her and the kitsune and his jinchuuriki on her lap. As she drifted away, she smiled as she tried to think of any other place she would rather be.

She couldn't.

* * *

AN: And that's the end. Thank you all for reading, and for those of you who stuck with me after I put in Minato as the Akatsuki Leader, (I explained the reason for that in the last chapter - I have had this written up for a long time, and when I was writing it, there were a few rumors going around that the Yondaime was the Leader, so I used that,) to you guys... T.T I love you two. I was only given two reviews for the last chapter, which depressed me, but I'm posting this anyway.

Thank you all for reading, and please tell me your thoughts!


End file.
